


Me, You, & Ushi Too

by loveoftheimpossible



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Backstory, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Chocolate Box Exchange 2018, F/M, Festivals, First Kiss, Mental Health Issues, Pre-Canon, Stuffed Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-14 21:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13598553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveoftheimpossible/pseuds/loveoftheimpossible
Summary: On bad days, Sayori remembers a small act of kindness from her youth.





	Me, You, & Ushi Too

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kisuru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisuru/gifts).



> Happy Valentine's Day! This is the first time I've written for Doki Doki, but I'm hoping you like it! I just finished playing through the game on a completionist run to get inspiration for this fic, and I forgot how much I liked it. I really enjoyed being able to write both something happy and something a little sad – bittersweet, as Sayori might say. I've always had such a great love of [Sayori's stuffed cow](https://ddlc.moe/images/screen5.png) \- just look at that cute face! - and the fact that she still has it from when they were younger was something I was interested in exploring. (I also thought it might be fun to add in a fun 'lost in translation' gag that the game has teased at with the name.) Hopefully you enjoy reading it!

Sayori threw her bag into the corner of her room, locking the door before sliding down it to sit in a heap on the floor. She held her head in her hands, the tears finally streaming down her cheeks, shoulders shaking. The day had been a particularly bad one - she showed up late to her first class, spilled apple juice all over her shoes during lunch, and scraped both of her knees on the way home from the literature club. On top of all that, she didn’t want to leave her bed in the morning in the first place, and now she felt as if her first instinct was right after all: why even get up if these were the kinds of days she had to look forward to?

Once her sobbing began to soften, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and slowly stood up, bracing herself against the doorframe. Sayori felt herself sway slightly as she made her way over to her bed, tucking herself in under a large blanket. Before getting too comfortable, she sighed and reached her hands out to scoop her favorite stuffed animal off the floor at the foot of her bed.

Wrapping her arms around the large plush cow, she finally felt herself begin to relax, the crushing feeling deep within her chest beginning to loosen its grip on her. She sat there for a moment, rubbing her cheek against a threadbare patch behind the cow’s ear as her breathing steadied.

‘Oh Ushi, you’ll always be here for me, right?’ Sayori asked quietly, looking at the cow’s face. She nodded Ushi’s head with her hand in answer and gave a weak smile. ‘What’s it been now, seven years?’

She leaned back against her pillow, pulling Ushi closer to her chest. The stuffed animal had been a comfort to her for as long as she could remember. After all, it held such a good memory, and on days like these it was always something nice to think about.

* * *

Sayori remembered the day she got Ushi like it was yesterday. It was a warm summer night and the town was holding a festival, the smell of sweet treats wafting through the air. She had already stuffed her face with mochi and shoved enough candy into her heart-shaped purse that the zipper was threatening to give out. Before she knew it, her friend came bounding up to her, grabbing her sticky hands and pulling her towards a booth.

She looked at the row of prizes above their heads and pointed excitedly at a lone cow amongst a sea of teddy bears. ‘That’s the one I want!’ she had exclaimed, digging into her pockets for change before realizing that the small allowance her mother gave her was already used up. ‘Aw man....’

Sayori watched her friend pull out a handful of change, placing it noisily on the counter in front of the man running the booth. He was given five darts and instructed that if he popped three balloons, he would win a prize.

Her friend stood up straight and shot her a grin before picking up the first dart. It immediately struck a balloon, the pop surprising Sayori. She gave a small cheer when the second dart found its target just as easily.

The third dart, however, zoomed straight past a bright pink balloon, sticking into the board at the back of the booth. She watched nervously as the fourth dart followed suit, narrowly missing a dark purple balloon. She could tell her friend was looking embarrassed, his confidence beginning to waver.

‘Hey! How about a kiss for good luck?’ she offered, moving closer to her friend. He nodded, and she leaned in, pressing a small peck onto his cheek.

She stepped back and he swallowed, both of their faces tinged pink. Her friend picked up the final dart; Sayori covered her eyes, too nervous to watch. She heard the dart fly through the air....followed by another pop! Sayori opened her eyes, seeing her friend jumping up and down excitedly.

‘Which one do you want, son?’ the man asked, and her friend pointed immediately to the cow.

‘Aww, I’m _sooo_ jealous....’ Sayori whined as the man handed her friend the stuffed animal.

Her friend turned to her, confused. ‘What do you mean? I won it for you!’ he answered, holding the cow out towards her.

‘Whaaat?! Really?!’ she asked, bewildered.

‘Yeah! I could tell you really wanted it, so I wanted to get it for you! You’re my best friend after all, you dummy.’

‘Aaaa! Thank you, thank you, thank you!’ she shouted, grabbing the prize and hugging it tightly.

* * *

They used to be so close, didn’t they? Maybe it was her fault they grew apart. The past few years had been hard to handle, and instead of reaching out, she found herself closing the door. _He must hate me_ , Sayori thought, _I shut him out without even telling him why_. She’s watched him walk away from her more times than she could count, tripping over her own feet as she tried to gather up the strength to catch up.

Her phone chimed, the screen lighting up with a text from Monika, picking up from where the meeting left off earlier that day. _‘I think we should branch out more! Maybe if each of us found someone to bring to a club meeting, we could throw a small party and stir up some interest! What do you think?’_ the message read.

Sayori let out a soft gasp. That would be the perfect opportunity to try to reestablish the one relationship that had meant the most to her. She quickly texted back, agreeing excitedly. Now all she had to do is figure out a surefire way to get her childhood friend interested. After a few minutes of thinking, she had a brilliant idea.

 _‘Hey Natsuki!’_ she tapped out in a new text. _‘You’re good at baking, right? I have a teensy favor to ask....’_


End file.
